Officials OK younger STRIPES drivers

Program leaders hope to inspire similar programs at other schools.

By Catherine Rolfe

Published Dec. 26, 2008

Safe-ride program STRIPES will start using 18-year-old drivers in January after university officials signed off on the proposal Dec. 11.

"When STRIPES was founded, this was one of the dreams of the program, that we were going to have younger drivers," former STRIPES Executive Director Domingo Pacheco said. "We had to have somebody sign on the dotted line, and that finally happened."

Since its inception, finding a way to lower its driving age was a goal for STRIPES.

When Pacheco started his term as STRIPES director, he pledged to find a way to make this goal a reality. That avenue became switching from STRIPES' old rental car company, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, to another company that would allow younger drivers, Avis Rent A Car.

"We're by far their first program nationally," Pacheco said. "We are the first program now to break from Enterprise.

MU graduate Dan Reiter, a founding member of STRIPES, said the program would change dramatically given the new policy.

"The faster you're able to pick people up, it makes it less likely for people to drink and drive," Reiter said. "And the more people who are using it, the safer the streets are."

Another founding member, Johnny Wang, said that now it will be much easier for the program to find volunteer drivers.

"Originally that had always been the hope, that younger people could drive, but for various reasons that was never allowed," Wang said. "Every time STRIPES had to run, it was always a scramble looking for people who were 21-years-old to drive."

Pacheco has also spread the word about STRIPES’ success to safe-rides programs at other colleges and universities.

"Everyone else wants younger drivers," Pacheco said. "They're in the same shoes as us, where they're being told 'no, no, no, no, no' from Enterprise, and now everyone knows it can happen."

The founders said they also hope STRIPES' example inspires safe-rides programs at other colleges and universities to find a way to use younger drivers.

"Ever since our first year, we've always been in contact with other colleges to help them get better as well," Reiter said. "Because it's not just about focusing on the University of Missouri, it's about helping all students that have that opportunity to have a safe ride home. So the more that we can help others out, and the more programs we can get started, that makes everybody happy."